When Kerrie Noonan of Woodford leaves this mortal coil, it won't involve a casket, the embalming process, a headstone or a burial plot six feet under.
A firm believer in natural burials - which involves using a shroud or a biodegradable casket and burying a body just three feet (1 metre) under the ground -Ms Noonan, 43, would like to see a green grave site developed in the Blue Mountains as an eco-friendly alternative for residents' final resting place.
"I would love it. It's giving the least amount of impact to the environment as possible," she said.
She's hoping the recent decision to allow a 49-hectare body farm site in Yarramundi, which was approved by nearby Hawkesbury Council, may "pave the way favourably" for Blue Mountains City Council to consider hybrid cemeteries (where the bush surrounding actual cemeteries become natural burial sites).
The Yarramundi site is a research facility where human decomposition can be studied (often to assist in criminal investigations), and is the first human body farm in the southern hemisphere.
"I was very excited by the Yarramundi body farm [decision], it was a major step forward. You don't need the concrete, the coffin, the maintenance and upkeep of the grounds.
"There are natural burial grounds everywhere in the UK and the United States and there are people here [the Natural Death Advocacy Network] trying to change things up," Ms Noonan said.
"Part of the problem is there is little awareness."
Ms Noonan, a psychologist working in palliative care, likes the idea of going back to the earth quicker and "composting" the surrounding bush.
As the director of the GroundSwell Project, an art project making cultural and social change about death and dying, she and social researcher Belinda Heath of Wentworth Falls, plan to screen the film A Will for the Woods this month to start a conversation about natural burials.
"We live in this amazing environment, this is the perfect place to have a natural burial ground considering the social community and the environment," Ms Noonan told the Gazette.
"There are no natural burial grounds in the Mountains, though people can apply to be buried on private property. Very few people comprehend the difference ... and the environmental benefits over cremation. A natural burial ground typically looks like a field, there is considerable effort to reduce the impact on the environment - all the organisms are available ... there's not tonnes and tonnes of concrete going into the ground ... these are replaced with small markers made from natural materials or just a GPS marker," Ms Noonan added.
Ms Heath, 44, said "after three generations no-one visits graves anyway", adding it could ease grave congestion - the housing crisis of the after-life.
"We think that Blue Mountains residents will embrace the idea," Ms Noonan said.
There are existing green burial sites in Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, as well as one in Lismore in NSW, with an Australasian Cemeteries and Crematoria Association spokesman previously telling Fairfax Media the sites would expand.
"It's taken off overseas and it's gaining legs over here," he said.
Blue Mountains City Council has nine cemeteries under its care and control. Council staff and councillors have been invited to the film screening.
A council spokeswoman said green burial sites required public access as well as machinery to prepare the site, "with public health, land management, environmental and legal considerations required".
She said council would "keep an open mind about green burial approaches for the future management of burials and ashes placement in the city".
"In terms of interest in green burials, funeral directors are able to undertake some green burial practices without reference to council ... [and funeral directors could suggest] emerging preferences of the community for burial and ashes placement."
A Will for the Woods follows the final days of a green burial activist and will screen on Saturday, March 28 at 1pm at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre. Cost is $15.50. Details: 0439 040 499.